Does Taco John's Have A Secret Menu Item?

I'm not a unique guy. I'm also not a fancy guy. I'm from the Midwest, and like a lot of people raised here I enjoy loose meat sandwiches. Call them what you want: Taverns, Sloppy Joes, Maid-Rites, Charlie Boys, Souper Burgers. Canteens... the list goes on and on. But basically, if you put hamburger meat on a bun, I'm interested. 

That's why I like to go to our local Taco John's. They have their own version of a loose meat sandwich - the Taco Burger.

The foodie website, The Takeout, ran an article a few years ago entitled, "Bring Back Taco Bell's 1962 Immediately." The subheading read, "Now is the perfect time to reintroduce Taco Bell's spin on a burger". Breanna Wellen's feature article is all about the discontinued Bell Beefer. It was Taco Bell's version of a loose meat sandwich. Apparently people have even staged protests and created Facebook pages demanding the return of the Bell Beefer. 

I looked the Bell Beefer up, and here's a picture of it from the Taco Bell Wiki:

When I saw the Bell Beefer I thought, What's the big deal? Taco John's sells Taco Burgers. Just go there.

To make sure, I checked our local Taco John's website, and the Taco Burger was listed as the only item under "Local Favorites." It looks a lot like the Bell Beefer to me. I think the biggest difference is the Taco Burger lacks the Beefer's chopped onions.

Here's the full description: "Our signature Seasoned Ground Beef, Mild Sauce, Lettuce and Cheddar Cheese on a nice warm Bun." All that love and a nice warm bun, too? Let's go get one!

My local Taco John's had updated their menu boards since my last visit, and I didn't see the Taco Burger listed anywhere. I became mildly worried. When the guy behind the counter asked what I wanted, I hesitantly replied,"Can I get a Taco Burger?"

"Yeah," he nodded his head, "Anything else?"

"Just a cup for water."

He handed me my receipt and a cup and said, "It'll be right out."

Why isn't the Taco Burger listed on the physical menu? Obviously there was a button on cashier's screen for a Taco Burger because it's listed right on the receipt.

This is what I got when I unwrapped my burger. I'm not a food photographer, but you get the idea. 

I'm also not a food writer. I don't even know how to pronounce umami. But I can tell you that the Taco Burger appeals to me on many levels. I like the beef that TJ's puts in their tacos, and it feels like they pile on about three times more of the same beef on the burger. I also like the consistency of the meat to sauce ratio. This isn't as messy as a sloppy joe, but the amount of beef will cause some of it to squeeze out the back. That's not the warm bun's fault, though. The bread is sturdy enough to support whatever amount of meat they put on it. (Come to think of it, I bet I could ask to switch the beef out for some other meat like chicken with lime sauce. Worth an ask.)

So, yeah, the Taco Burger is a version of a loose meat sandwich that I can get behind. I'm not alone. I mentioned this burger at school a few days ago, and one teacher exclaimed, "Taco John's Taco Burgers? I love them! Even if I order a meal, I get a burger on the side!" That's a pretty good endorsement.

When I went back to double check the Taco John's website menu for this post, and the "Local Favorites" category was gone. What?! Where did it go? Turns out, the Taco Burger was now listed under the "Tacos" heading, which makes sense. Whew. For a second there I thought this might become an "in memory of" post.

There is a problem, though. Not all Taco John's menus are created equal. 

In some Iowa locations the Taco Burger is listed as an option:

In other Iowan locations, it's not:

In some cities you can order the Taco Burger online:

In others, you can't:

I'm sure availability is based on demand. Why waste warm buns if they're not selling?

If online menus can be trusted, over half of the Taco John's in Iowa offer Taco Burgers, and about a third of the restaurants in South Dakota and Nebraska have them as well. Minnesota has three Taco Burger-friendly locations. Of the other 19 states that have a Taco John's, only the folks in Olathe, Kansas get a shot at loose meat goodness:

I suppose this is a Midwest thing.

Does all of this mean that Taco John's has a secret menu item? I don't know. It all depends on your definition and your destination. What I do know is where I'm going for lunch today. 

I think I'll add chopped onions.

Wait! They Have That?

 I don't pay much attention to the ads that come in the mail. They usually go straight from our mailbox to the recycling bin. For some reason, this ad for Boss' Chicken & Pizza caught my eye.

The ad boasts "State Fair Quality Beer Battered Cheese Curds," and I said to Daphne, "That's a pretty bold statement." She agreed.

I checked their website, and it turns out that the Boss' Chicken & Pizza chain is orginally from Sioux Falls, SD. Maybe that's why the ad seemed familiar? I've probably seen a Boss's Chicken & Pizza when we were visiting. I was curious about their appetizers, and while I was reading the menu something stopped me in my tracks. It's right there under boneless wings.

Whaaa? They have chislic? In Des Moines?

No way! I love chislic, but I thought that I could only get it when I'm in South Dakota. The last time I had an order of chislic was in 2019 when we were on our trip to the Black Hills. 

For the uninitiated, traditional chislic is cubed red meat (usually steak or lamb) that is fried and seasoned with either salt or garlic salt. It's simple, but it's simply good, too. 

Chislic is popular enough in South Dakota to be declared the official state "nosh." The Sioux Fall restaurant Urban Chislic is dedicated to the dish, and the town of Freeman will be hosting the Chislic Festival on July 30. 

So, yeah, it's popular with those in the know. But getting chislic in Iowa didn't seem posssible. I even called Boss' Chicken & Pizza to confirm that chislic had crossed the state line. I was assured that it was on their menu. Daphne and I stopped by on Sunday, and I was not disappointed.

Taa Daaaa! Iowan Chislic! And it tasted just like I remembered - awesome.

 

The chicken at Boss' is broasted, and Daphne and I split a four piece dinner with potato wedges and coleslaw. The chicken was stellar. I grew up eating broasted chcken, and I'll take it over fried or baked chicken every time.

What a great lunch.

I don't know if the Boss serves cheese curds that live up to State Fair standards. With chislic on the menu, I might never find out.

(Yes, I know I said I was done blogging, but Char's nowhere in this post, and anyway, I got excited... Good food does that to me.) 

Break's Over. Everybody Back in the Pool!

I have to earn some college credits in order to renew my teaching license by next July. I'm currently taking an online class to earn two hours, and the class is fine. But every time I open my laptop I feel guilty if I'm not doing the coursework.

The blog usually slows down in the summer, but only one post in July is a bit lazy. I think it's time to push through my guilt and get something on A Pocket for Charlotte.

Here's the tiny home that we rented in Keystone, SD. It was two stories tall, but only had 300 square feet.

The step leading upstairs were more like a ladder.

We have watched shows on TV about living in a tiny home, and I was curious what it would be like. If I was only allowed one word to describe the experience I would say, "cramped." It was fun to try for awhile, though.

I had a birthday on July 2nd. We had BBQ for lunch at Smoky D's. 

Char and Daphne made me a meat bouquet using origami and meat sticks. It's like they know me or something.

Then Daphne threw me a surprise birthday party at Flix. She's awesome.

Turning 50 doesn't bother me. Yes, I am getting older, and my body is creakier than it used to be. But I don't feel old, and I still laugh at fart jokes. The only physical evidence of my age is in the mirrors, so I avoid those. Getting older beats the alternative, and I'm just happy to be here with my girls. 

For the Fourth of July, the parents in our neighborhood all chipped in and rented a slip-n-slide for the kids. 

Here's Char finding out that water from the hose can be pretty cold.

We live near a country club, and we can watch their fireworks show from our driveway. 

Mini golf is still a good time.

So is the family programing at Flix. (Pop quiz: The antagonist in Matilda is Principal Truchbull. Can you name the character Pam Ferris played in the third Harry Potter film?)

In 2015 I bought Char a bicycle from the Des Moines Bike Collective. She refused to learn how to ride it.

This year I tried again. Same shop, older girl.

She started coasting with the seat all the way down and the pedals removed from the bike. Then she coasted with her feet on the pedals. We slightly raised the seat a bit each afternoon, and the rest is history. Now she rides around the neighborhood with her friends like a champ.

I'll pass along two quotes from Charlotte. 1) "I'm sorry I didn't believe you when you told me biking is fun. It's the best thing ever!" 2) "Go for a walk with you? Why would I walk when I can sit here [points at her bike seat]  and go anywhere I want?"

Seemingly out of the blue, Char asked if she could start playing softball. We thought, Why not? Daphne found a skills clinic offered by the YMCA, and Char has been practicing for an hour and a half on Saturday mornings. It is very low key, and that's perfect for us. I think she likes everything about the clinic except for me taking pictures of her.

Oh well, her back is turned...

Since she's learning the ropes around the softball field, Char's more interested in watching the Iowa Cubs at Principal Park. It's a bit of work to get to an I Cubs game, but we have so much fun. Daphne and I always ask ourselves, "Why don't be do this more often?"

Another benefit of learning how to play softball is that Charlotte is now open to watching classic movies like The Sandlot, Rookie of the Year, and Little Big League. I said no to The Bench Warmers, though. 

Speaking of bench warmers, I built this bench for Daphne as a surprise gift (see what I did there?). 

The previous owners of our first house left this board under our deck. We've used it several times over the years for various projects, but I thought I could repurpose it. Neither of us grew up on farms, so this is the only wood we have that has a family history.

I still love lunch at Tasty Tacos. Dang.

Question: French Dip Pizza, where have you been my entire life? Answer: "I've been at Truman's waiting for you with my friends Au Jus and Bacon Cheese Burger Pizza."

Char also went bowling with some of her friends. (She didn't make that spare.)

When Maggie stopped eating and drinking last May, we knew we going to lose her. On a Monday we decided we would probably have to put her down before the end of the week. Mags loves riding in the car, and we thought she might enjoy a ride or two during her final days. I wrote a post about that, but I had to revert that to a draft. 

I'm not saying riding in the car fixed her. She might have stopped eating and drinking because she had a stomach bug. But after the second ride, her disposition picked up. She ate some and drank some. By that Friday she was cleaning her plate and looking at me expectantly when I'd walk to the garage. Our vet suggested that maybe the rides give her something to live for.

With the exception of our trip to South Dakota, I have taken Mags for a ride in the car every morning this summer.  Our route takes 35 minutes, and she sits up and is alert for the entire trip.

She takes it easy and hangs out with her friends during the rest of the day.

Since Maggie was too frail to make the trip to St. Louis, I stayed home with her while Charlotte and Daphne spent a few days with Grandpa and Grandma. Daphne sent me some pictures from the City Museum. Char hadn't been on their roof before, and she had a blast.

Clover Kids is the precursor to 4-H, and Char received her diploma in the 4-H building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Clover Kids won't continue at Char's school next year, so we're lucky Charlotte was in the pilot program. She really enjoyed CK, and I think she'll participate in 4-H.

Whew. I feel better. The blog is alive. 

I start jury duty next week, so we'll see what that's like...

Story Material: It's a Small World

I like to buy my souvenir t-shirt at a thrift store when we travel. I can usually find something fun, but I came up short at the thrift stores in Rapid City, SD. I wear size large, and that was the smallest shirt section in their Goodwill. Their Salvation Army store had about five shirts in my size, and so I came home empty-handed.

I settled for this thrift store shirt that I found here in Johnston, Iowa.

Hudson is only 13 miles from where I grew up in northwest Iowa. I like dive bar shirts almost as much as I like vintage rock shirts, so this was a win. The graphic on this shirt looks like it has seen better days, but that makes two of us.

I wore The Buckaroo shirt today for the first time. While we were shopping in Ames, I was stopped by a woman in her 60s. She exclaimed, "Hudson, South Dakota? I have family there! I grew up in Hawarden. The Buckaroo? That was going on when I was kid! I remember the Buckaroo!" Then she backtracked, "I mean, I didn't know the Buckaroo. I was a goodie two-shoes, but I bet my sisters knew that place plenty well, if you know what I mean."

I did know what she meant, and I think she looked too excited to have not seen the inside of the Buckaroo herself...

Anyway, yes, The Buckaroo Bar & Grill has been around since the 1940s, but still, the 2010 census listed Hudson at a population of 296. What are the odds that I would have a conversation with a stranger about my shirt two hours after putting it on?  That's pretty neat.

Cue the song...

Addendum:

I wore this shirt on our second visit to the Iowa State Fair. Two people approached me at the same time with different stories. The first was a guy in his 30s from Sioux Center, Iowa. He said, "I saw your shirt, and I just had to say something. Back in the day when I was pheasant hunting, all roads led to the Buckaroo." That is a great line.

The second story was a from a woman in her early 70s. She lived in Rock Valley during the 1970s, but I didn't know her. I did know some her younger nephews, though. "My older brother learned how to drink at the Buckaroo. That was back when he was 14. If you were tall enough to put your quarter on the bar, you were old enough to buy a beer." I love stories like that.

This shirt is great.

When in Rome... or at least in the Black Hills - a food post

We took a trip to the Black Hills as soon as this school year ended. One minute I was saying goodbye to friends at school, and the next we were saying hi to these guys.

Our first stop was a night at the AmericInn hotel in Hartford (they had a pool!). We had dinner next door at the Blue 42 Sports Grill. Since we were in south-eastern South Dakota, I ordered the chislic basket. I won't judge you if you haven't heard of chislic. It is definitely a South Dakota-thing; they even have a chislic festival.

I substituted tater tots for the fries, and I'm struggling to find words to describe how much I loved this dinner. Let's just say I wished I ordered two baskets. Bar food at its finest.

The next day we stopped at Al's Oasis for lunch. I can order a hamburger anywhere, so I went with a Buffalo Burger.

I'm not a food connoisseur, so I can't tell you exactly what a buffalo burger tastes like... except that it was really good. If I hadn't known that I was eating buffalo, I don't think I would have noticed that it was different from a burger back home.

That night we unpacked our car in Keystone where we had rented a tiny house for nine nights. The Big Thunder Bar & Grill was across the street. 

Daphne and I both ordered the special.

"Note: The Game Burger is a combination of Deer, Elk, Boar, Buffalo, and Antelope."

We both enjoyed our Game Burgers. There was no way that I could have identified the different types of animal ingredients. It just tasted good.

Did you know one of the founding fathers of the United States can be credited with the first known ice cream recipe recorded by an American? Jefferson also likely helped to popularize ice cream in this country when he served it at the President’s House in Washington.

It's vanilla, and we'd like to thank you, President Jefferson.

I don't know when I'll get another chance to eat Buffalo Ribs, so I ordered them at Red's Chicken House and BBQ. I hope I get another chance; these ribs were great.

We went back to Big Thunder to try their brats. Daphne had the Elk and Jalapeno brat, and I ordered the Rattle Snake and Pheasant sausage.

I'll be honest. I was a bit worried about eating snake. I thought it might be gamy or dry. It was neither, and I'd eat another one for sure. Daphne also enjoyed her Elk brat.

Char really liked eating at the Br Gr 61 (say "burger"). They have 61 different ways to top your burger, but that's not why Char liked the place.

The tables are house doors with plates of glass on top. Beneath the glass you can see the business cards, pictures, notes, and tickets that patrons have slid in over the years.

Let's zoom in:

It's fun to leave your mark on a place... legally.

Speaking of that, in Rapid City they have statutes of all the US presidents and other significant historical figures. I spotted this statue in the city park. Can you see the joke that someone left behind?

Let's zoom in:

I don't think that's disrespectful. I just think it is funny. Like this sign I saw in a gas station outside of Sioux City.

We didn't give Char $100 when we visited the Candyland store, but she made out alright.

Neither Daphne and I had heard of chocolate covered pickles, so we bought a spear to share. The taste was salty, sweet, pickely, and fun.

They served a pickle beer at last year's Iowa State Fair, so maybe pickles are becoming cool? I don't know. I do know I enjoyed eating in the Black Hills.